Adventures in the air, on the ground and in between

CYHM

There will be no Canadian Aviation Expo in 2012. According to a press release from the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum the Expo “has postponed the 2012 Expo and its 20th anniversary celebrations until 2013 in order to support this years 40th anniversary of the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum (CWHM) and the 60th anniversary of the Canadian Owners and Pilots Associations (COPA).”

The Canadian Aviation Expo brings together exhibitors from virtually every aspect of aviation for a two day trade show. If you’ve never been or just want to see what the expo was like in previous years, I have a few posts which you can find here.

With the Expo postponed, the next aviation event to look forward to in Hamilton is the 2012 Hamilton Air Show taking place June 16-17.

I’ve taken the liberty of overlaying it on a Google Earth shot of the airport to give those of you familiar with the airport a better idea of where things will be and rough estimates of distances. Click the image to enlarge it.

Some things to note when planning your day:

Active runway will be 06-24 and performing aircraft will be taxiing from the museum via taxiway C which splits the two (yellow) flight line areas

The static aircraft will be on display on the old 12R-30L runway

Performing aircraft parking will close at 13:00, one hour before the air display begins at 14:00. Static display aircraft will be available during the airshow

From the website: you CANNOT bring large coolers on the premises. Drinks and food will be available for purchase. All food vendors will be cash only. ATMs will be on site.

Gates open to the general public at 9AM each day. General admission parking is situated approximately 3 KM with a free shuttle provided. There will be signs posted directing you to the parking lot and I will try to find a map of that as well. For those of you taking public transit, the HSR will be running its A line shuttle from downtown Hamilton to the airport with a few stops along the way. Check out the links on this page for more information.

I am working on a post with tips on making the most of your day at the Hamilton Air Show. Keep an eye out for it in the next week or so.

The map as released by @CWHM on Twitter can be found on TwitPic and I’ve linked to it below.

Update May 27: I’ve noticed a few searches for the parking area (I’m assuming for visitor’s cars). As of now the word is that there will be signs posted to let you know where to park. I have asked @CWHM where parking will take place and I am waiting to hear back. As soon as I know I will post the information. Stay tuned!

Today I received my Early Bird Photo Pass to the 2011 Hamilton Airshow along with the parking pass and directions / instructions. I plan to be there for the whole day on Saturday, June 18th starting at 7 AM.

As a side note, I am planning on renting a couple of lenses for my Nikon D80 for that weekend so if you have any tips, or know any one that would be able to offer some advice please let me know through the comments.

The show takes place June 18th and 19th at John C. Munro, Hamilton International Airport (CYHM). A note about fly-ins according to some sources from the Warplane Heritage Museum: they will not be allowed as the field will be closed for the weekend.

This video was taken by my instructor (I was flying the plane) while I was still training at Hamilton Airport (CYHM). We are in a Piper Cherokee on approach to runway 30. A Westjet 737 is landing on the same runway before us. Enjoy the video!

June 2011 Update: The runway I land on in this video is the one in use during the 2011 Hamilton Air Show. This is what the pilots performing in the airshow will see as they come in for a landing.

With the Hamilton Airshow approaching I thought I would give you a taste of what pilots will be seeing as they come in for a landing at John C. Munro airport in Hamilton. The video below is of one of my landings on runway 06 in a Piper Cherokee and was taken while I was still training at Hamilton Airport with the now defunct Peninsulair. Enjoy!